Posted on Jan 15, 2013

By Tracy Bloom

Weapons System: In the wake of last month’s Newtown, Conn., mass shooting, the White House is eyeing 19 executive actions to take in its effort to reduce gun violence. That’s according to Vice President Joe Biden, who was tapped by President Obama to lead a task force on the issue of gun control. Biden met with House Democrats on Monday to discuss the White House’s response. Said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va.: “It was all focusing on enforcing existing law, administering things like improving the background database, things like that that do not involve a change in the law but enforcing and making sure that the present law is administered as well as possible.” (Read more)

Impeachy Keen: Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas, is threatening to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Obama if he takes executive action on new gun control regulations. Calling the White House’s recent announcement that it might use an executive order to pass new regulation an infringement “on our constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms,” Stockman said it’s “an unconstitutional and unconscionable attack on the very founding principles of this republic.” He said he would “seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment.” President Obama is expected to announce his plans to move forward on gun control this week. (Read more)

Texas Hold ’Em: Another Republican lawmaker from Texas—this one serving at the state level—wants to lock up any federal official who attempts to enforce gun control measures enacted by the Obama administration in the Lone Star State. A violator of Republican state Rep. Steve Toth’s proposed Firearms Protection Act would face jail time and a fine. “It is our responsibility to push back when those laws are infringed by King Obama,” Toth said. (Read more)

Playing Games: Remember when National Rifle Association officials blamed gun violence on video games? Evidently, the group has changed its mind seeing as it released a target shooting game for the iPhone called “NRA: Practice Game.” The game, released nearly a month after the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, was initially geared toward children as young as 4, though the age range has since been changed to “12+.” (Read more)

Happy Trails: Former South Carolina governor and noted Appalachian Trail hiking faker Mark Sanford has announced his intention to run for Congress. The disgraced Republican will take part in a special election to succeed Rep. Tim Scott, who was appointed to the seat vacated by Jim DeMint. Addressing the day he disappeared from office to go canoodle in Argentina with his then-mistress (now wife) and lied about his whereabouts, Sanford said: “Don’t judge any one person by their best day, don’t judge them by their worst day. Look at the totality, the whole of their life, and make judgments accordingly.” So, does this mean he won’t be running as a “family values” candidate, then? (Read more)

Doggone It: Already unpopular Florida Gov. Rick Scott will probably see his “popularity” plummet after The Tampa Bay Times reported that he gave back Reagan, the dog he adopted during the 2010 campaign, after it was over. Scott got Reagan after he won the GOP nomination, announcing on Facebook that his family had rescued the Labrador retriever. After getting the runaround from former and current staffers, the Times finally got ahold of Scott, who said he returned the pooch after the election because Reagan “scared the living daylights” out of those in the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, and that one employee even threatened to quit because of the canine. Let’s remember here—things that are popular: dogs; things that are not: Rick Scott. (Read more)

Video of the Day: CNN host Piers Morgan paid a visit to “The Colbert Report” on Monday night for an interview with Stephen Colbert. Naturally the Comedy Central host, in his trademark conservative facade, satirically took Morgan to task for his anti-gun stance. Morgan was recently the subject of a petition that sought to deport the Brit for espousing such a view on his program after the Sandy Hook shooting. A sampling of questions asked by Colbert during the interview: “Do you hate the United States Constitution?” “Have you ever read it?” and “Do you speak English?”